Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Morrow to the Blue Jays?

The Blue Jays have reached a tentative agreement with the Mariners on a trade that would bring right-hander Brandon Morrow north of the border.

In order to land Morrow, the Blue Jays have agreed to trade right-handed reliever Brandon League to the M’s. Toronto will also send a prospect, and I’m hearing it’ll likely be Minor League outfielder Johermyn Chavez.

On Tuesday, League was headed to Seattle for a physical and Morrow was en route to Tampa to do the same. Announcement is expected to come on Wednesday.

More than likely, Morrow will be brought to Toronto as a starter. He would immediately be among the top three arms in the mix for rotation spots. With Morrow in the fold, the front five actually begins to take shape.

Last year, Morrow went 2-4 with a 4.39 ERA in 69 2/3 innings for the Mariners and 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA over 10 starts with Triple-A Tacoma. Morrow has gone 8-12 with a 3.96 ERA in 197 2/3 innings for his career with Seattle. In 15 career starts with the Mariners, he has gone 4-3 with a 4.42 ERA.

–JB

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4 Comments

I am not sure what to think of this (proposed) deal. Morrow appears to be high on potential, but low on innings pitched. I thought that we needed a guy who could eat 200+ innings, no questions asked. On the other hand, League is somewhat inconsistent, but certainly as good as Morrow, if we view Morrow as a reliever. I would have liked to see a one-for-one trade here. Young Chavez put up some excellent numbers in A ball. Whenever you give away your best player at any level, it is a bit disconcerting.

Looks to me that Brandon Morrow is a perfect example of a young pitcher screwed up by the team who drafted him. Seattle’s number one draft pick in 2006 out of Berkley,where he was a sought after starter. He pitched a grand total of 13 innings in Seattle’s rookie league in relieve and was immediately bumped up to their A+ team for a further 3 innings or a grand total of 112 for the year-but only 16 in pro ball.
In 2007, Morrow went to Seattle, again in relieve and appeared in 60 games, but only threw 63.1 innings. Not surprising, his k to walk ratio tumbled and in 2008, he started in AA,went only 7 innings in relieve, before promoted to AAA where they tried to turn him back into a starter, and after 6 starts and 23.1 innings he was again promoted back to Seattle, where he appeared in 45 games in relieve and pitched 64.2 innings.
In 2009, he started out in AAA with 10 starts and pitched 55 innings and was again bumped to Seattle and again turned into a swing guy both starting and appearing in relieve over 69 innings. He did have injuries in 2009, which is not a surprise. Frankly, considering how he was handled, I’m surprised his arm didn’t fall off.

The above is generally a prescription for exactly how to either seriously injure a pitcher or destroy his confidence. And after all this mucking about, Seattle give up on him and decide to trade him, good for our side is all I can say. There’s no question, in my mind, if this kid is straightened away, probably put on an innings limit for 2010, he could be an exceptional starter.
There’s also little question, imo, all this mucking about is what cause his control problem. In his last year at Berkley he walked 39, struck out 97 in 96 innings which is acceptable given how hard he throws and how much movement he gets.
Considering all we gave up to get him is Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez, I’m surprised Seattle fans aren’t calling the cops and charging AA with theft.
NO misunderstanding, I liked Chavez, BUT, the clock was running out on him because he had to repeat in Lansing and we’d have been in a position of having to add him to the 40 man roster ( I think) by the end of this year or risk losing him in the rule 5 draft. He’s still really raw to take up that valuable spot when he’s never appeared over A ball.

Good post, gsjays. I watched some video of this kid and I sure liked what I saw. Nice easy delivery, straight to the plate and lands well. Hit 98 on the radar, too. I think if AA ever wants to come to visit, I will hide the silver!
And I think jeremy Accardo can fill League’s shoes quite nicely in the bullpen, and with a bit more consistency, too.

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